Heating-furnace.



No. 7|5,029.- Patented Dec. 2, I902.

C. l. DMLEY.

HEATING FURNACE.

(Application filed Feb. 10, 1902.

(No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet l.

FFICE.

CHARLES I. DAILEY, OF CLEVELAND, OHIO.

HEATING-FURNACE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent N0. 715,029, dated December 2, 1902.

Application filed February 10, 1902. Serial No. 93,343. (No model.)

naces, wherein the articles to be heated are forced with a broadside movement in continuous rows through the furnaces from the charging to the delivery ends. In many furnaces of the continuous-heating type as constructed heretofore no provision has been made for separating the billets, 850., one from another except at the moment of discharge from the heating-chamber, in consequence of which said billets, &c., lack the uniform temperature throughout which is desired and essential to their proper subsequent treatment. In other furnaces the leading billet of an advancing row is separated from the others by dropping from the rear end of the track or hearth to a receiving-bed or soaking-hearth placed thereunder, upon which it may become more uniformly heated, but from which position it is drawn out and removed from the furnace by hand.

Therefore the objects of my invention are to provide a furnace comprising means not only for separating one of the articles to be heated from the others and for heating said article to a uniform temperature, but also for discharging said article from the furnace at the will of the operator more expeditiously and with less manual labor than heretofore.

. A further object is the improvement of existing furnaces, thereby increasing their capacity, facilitating the delivery of the heated billets or other articles with a minimum reduction of their heat, securing a more uniform diffusion of heat throughout said articles, and decreasing the manual labor required in the operation of such furnaces.

Minor objects will become apparent from the description.

To these ends my invention consists in the novel features, arrangements, and combinations hereinafter described and claimed, an embodiment thereof as applied to a continuous-heating furnace for steel billets being illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 is a plan View showing the delivery end of a furnace having one side of the roof broken away. Fig. 2 is an end elevation showing part of the end wall removed; and Fig. 3 is a side elevation, the furnace being shown in section on the longitudinal plane indicated by line III III of Fig. 2.

The part of the furnace shown in the drawings comprises the delivery end, the opposite or admission end being of any ordinary or suitable construction. The side walls, roof, and bed of the furnace inclosing a heatingchamber (indicated by the reference-letter a) may also be constructed in any well-known manner suitable to the purpose, and the invention is applicable to furnaces adapted to receive either a single row or a plurality of rows of billets. Resting upon suitable sup porting-piers b 19, elevated somewhat above the-floor of the heating-chamber of the furnace, is a longitudinal track 0 0, upon which the row of billets d is supported and pushed along in the direction indicated by the arrows by any of the well-known meanssuch, for example, as ahydraulic cylinder and pushing-plate (not shown) located opposite to the entrance-door of the furnace. The ways 0 of the said track are preferably constructed of metal tubes, through which a circulation of cooling-liquid may be maintained in order to heating-chamber a at the delivery end of the furnace, and the fuel employed, whether gas, oil, or coal, depends upon the local supply considered from an economical standpoint, so that the design and proportion of the furnace must necessarily vary in different installations. In the furnace shown herein gas is supplied through the portsj and air through the openings at 7c; but in all such furnaces the fuel is burned at the delivery end and the products of combustion carried out of the heating-chamber at or near the charging end, and therefore the hottest portion of said chamber is near the delivery end and in the region of the separating-hearth 6.

Supported and hinged in suitable bearings, such. as brackets Z, upon the front of the discharging end of the furnace is a crank-shaped ejector m, with its bent middle portion projecting into the furnace between the ways 6 and g and its straight cylindrical ends pass ing horizontally under the discharge-section g. Said ejector 'm is preferably constructed of heavy pipe bent to proper shape or cast hollow of metal, so that cooling fluid may be circulated through it. A lever-arm n is secured to said ejector and may be operated by any suitable means, such as a cylinder 0 and piston 19, as shown, or by hand with a counterbalance. In the drawings said ejector is shown in its normal position of rest lying below the ways e and g. Its operation will be readily understood by reference to the dotted lines, which indicate its approximate position after being swung upward, dislodging in its upward movement the billet or billetsffrom its seat upon the hearth e, carrying said billet forward well onto the inclined section g, whence it is discharged by gravity through the furnace-door'onto the conveyer 2'. In order to prevent one or more of the billets cl falling onto the hearth e while the ejector is raised, and thereby preventing the return of said ejector to its normal position under said hearth, I provide one or more downward bends or other suitable projections, as shown at r, in the inner transverse section of the ejector, which bends are preferably curved, as seen in side elevation, Fig. 3, to a radius having its center slightly below the fulcrum Z.

In the operation of my improved furnace the articles to be heatedsuch as billets d-- are pushed along from the cooler entrance end toward the hotter discharge end of the furnace, gradually absorbing heat as they 'progress until one or more billets fall upon the separating-hearth c, where said billet may remain any desired length of time, becoming uniformly heated throughout, and whence it may be quickly discharged without appreciable loss of its heat, each step in the operation being performed at the will of the operator and the amo untof manual labor required reduced to a minimum.

I have described what I now consider the best form and mode of operation of my improved heating-furnace; but I do not wish to confine myself to the specific means described, for the same may be varied and still remain within the scope of the claims--as, for instance, it is obvious that the separatinghearth might be dispensed with and the ejecting device still be operative, or the location of the fulcrum of the ejector might be changed to suit varying conditions or desires. Various other modifications can be made in the details of the apparatus herein disclosed without departing from the spirit of my invention, provided the principles of construction set forth, respectively, in the following claims are employed.

I therefore particularly point out and distinctly claim as my invention- 1.. In a heating-furnace, the combination with a heating-chamber and means for inserting and advancing a row of billets or other articles to be heated therein, of means located in the hotter end of the heating-chamber for separating and holding one or more of said billets from said row, and ejecting mechanism operated independently of the charging means and adapted to dislodge said separated billet or billets and discharge the same from said heating-chamber, substantially as set forth.

2. In a heating-furnace, the combination with a heating-chamber and means for inserting and advancing a row of billets or other articles to be heated upon a suitable bed therein, of an offset in said bed forming a hearth located in the hotter end of the heating-chamber for separating and holding one or more of said billets from said row, and ejecting mechanism operated independently of the charging means and adapted to dislodge said separated billet or billets and discharge the same from said heating-chamber, substantially as set forth.

3. In a heating-furnace, the combination with a heating-chamber and means for inserting and advancing a row of billets or other articles to be heated upon a suitable track therein, of an offset in said track forming a hearth located in the hotter end of the heat ing-chamber for separating by gravity and holding one or more of said billets from said row, and a swinging ejector adapted to dislodge from said hearth and discharge from the furnace said separated billet or billets, substantially as set forth.

4. In a heatingfurnace, the combination with a heating-chamber and means for inserting and advancing a row of billets or other articles to be heated upon a suitable bed therein, of ejecting mechanism located at the discharging end of the furnace operated independently of the charging means and adapted to separate from said row and discharge one or more of said billets sidewise and successively from the heating-chamber, substantially as set forth.

5. In a furnace provided with a heating chamber and means for charging it with articles to be heated, an ejecting mechanism operated independently of the charging means and adapted to intercept said articles singly or in groups and discharge the same sidewise and successively from the furnace, substantially as set forth.

IIO

B. In a heating-furnace provided with a l furnace having a crank-shaped bend in its heating-chamber and means for inserting and advancing a row of billets or other articles to be heated upon a suitable bed therein, an ejecting mechanism located at the discharging end of the furnace operated independently of the charging means and adapted to separate one or more of said billets from said row and discharge the same sidewise and successively from the furnace, substantially as set forth.

7. In a heating-furnace provided with a heating-chamber and means for inserting and advancing a row of billets or other articles to be heated upon a suitable bed therein, an ejector comprising a shaft or tube mounted in bearings upon the discharging end of the furnace having a crank-shaped bend in its middle portion, said bend projecting into the heating-chamber under the discharge-door thereof and resting normally under the advancing end of said row of billets, and means for swinging said ejector sufficiently to intercept one or more of the said billets and discharge the same through the door of the furnace, substantially as set forth.

8. In a heating-furnace provided with a heating-chamber and means for inserting and advancing a row of billets or other articles to be heated upon a suitable track therein, a downward inclination in said track passing through the discharge-door of the furnace, an ejector comprising a shaft or tube mounted in bearings upon the discharging end of the middle portion, said bend projecting into the heating-chamber under the discharge-door thereof between the ways of said track and resting normally under the advancing end of said row of billets, and means for swinging said ejector sufficiently to dislodge one or more of the said billets and cause the same to slide forward onto the said inclined track, substantially as set forth. I

9. The combination, with a furnace provided with a heating-chamber, parallel ways forming a suitable bed or track therein, and means for inserting and advancing a row of billets or other articles to be heated into said chamber and upon said track, of a separatinghearth located in said chamber near the discharge end thereof, an inclined dischargingplane leading from said hearth downwardly through the discharge-door of the furnace, a suitable conveyor adapted to receive said billets from the discharging-plane, and a swinging ejector extending into the heating-chamber and adapted to dislodge billets from said separating-hearth and carry the same onto the said discharging-plane, substantially as set forth.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature,- in the presence of two subscribing witnesses, atNew Haven, Connecticut, February 6, 1902.

CHARLES I. DAILEY.

Witnesses:

HELEN E. KEATING, WM. A. WRIGHT. 

